Starry Starry Night
by AquilaWhite20
Summary: One accident. That was all it took to turn Ryoma into a cocky antisocial brat and make his twin sister Yosora wheel chair bound. As Ryoma attends Rikkaidai and Yosora chooses Seigaku, the worlds of both teams collide. Will the crazy, loving teenagers help Ryoma break out of his shell? Will Yosora find the courage to walk and play tennis again?
1. Echizens! Welcome to Rikkaidai!

Rikkaidai Fuzoku.

The name brings respect to everyone who heard it in Japan. It was the middle school section of the most prestigious education institution in the nation, from its elementary sector all the way up to Rikkai University. Not only were the students so academically talented that those whom normal people deem "geniuses" are dime a dozen, but the pupils of the school were exceptionally well rounded as well. The sports teams boast of national-level players, and national championships are a normal state of affairs, while the music, arts, drama, photography and other culture societies often were invited to perform concerts or host exhibitions. In a school full of unbelievably talented people, one would imagine it would be hard to stand out. However, that was exactly what the tennis team regulars managed to do. Two-time national champions, led by the undefeated so-called Three Demons, Rikkaidai's tennis club attracted the attention of the student population both due to its talents and the interesting characters that it is home to. Little do the students of Rikkai know, but the tennis club is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

"Ryoma, hurry up! We don't want to be late on the first day of school"

This is Echizen Kevin. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Kevin is easily recognizable as a foreigner. Abused as a child, he was removed from his father's custody and the Echizens adopted him five years ago. Angry at the abuse he suffered, he chose to change his surname from Smith to Echizen.

"Relax Kev, it's not like the first day of school is a big deal."

Meet Echizen Ryoma. Small for his age, Ryoma is nonetheless extremely good-looking with his dark emerald hair and large topaz eyes. At the moment though, he was wearing a huge scowl along with his trusty Fila cap.

"I have no idea why you're so worked up, Kev."

"Don't you want to see for yourself what the best tennis team in the country is like, Ryoma?"

"I'm sure they're just going to be mada mada."

"Whatever, you're boring to talk to sometimes."

"Betsuni."

By the time they had made their way to the principal's office, Kevin had already given up on trying to engage his brother in any meaningful conversation. _"Ryoma really isn't a morning person, seems like he's almost asleep on his toes." _Out loud he said, "Oi, we're here."

"Why are we at the principal's office again?"

Kevin stared. "Haven't you been listening to anything I was saying on the way here?" At his brother's blank face he sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, should've expected something like that from you. Anyways, the principal wanted us to come in early to discuss some things with our schedule in relation to the results of our entrance exam."

"Tch, how annoying."

Kevin ignored the comment, and just as he was about to knock on the door, it flew open. Startled, he saw two boys, seniors by the look of them. One standing slightly in front was extremely beautiful. Yes, beautiful, that was the only word Kevin could use to describe him, with his wavy shoulder length blue hair and his purple eyes. However, although the boy has gentle features, Kevin immediately knew that he just wasn't someone to be taken lightly, for the boy had the quiet authoritative air of a born leader. The guy standing behind him was tall and dark, with dark hair that was hidden underneath a black cap and piercing brown eyes. Here was someone diciplined and stern, both inside and outside. The two boys looked curiously at Kevin and Ryoma, and Kevin looked curiously back, while Ryoma just seemed supremely bored. Yukimura (yes, the impossibly beautiful boy is Yukimura, while the other as you might've guessed is Sanada) gazed at the two freshmen before him, and took note that they each had a tennis bag slung over their shoulders.

"Saa, Genichirou, let's go." Yukimura nodded politely at the freshme, while privately he thought to himself, _"Hou it seems like we'll have some interesting freshmen this year. I just know it!" _

Shrugging off the encounter, Kevin entered the principal's office, followed by Ryoma, who was quite reluctantly dragging his feet.

"Ah you must be the Echizens! Welcome!" An unexpectedly young and cheerful person greeted them. "As you probably know, I'm the principal of Rikkaidai Fuzoku, Shimizu Akio!"

"Echizen Kevin, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" Kevin politely introduced himself. _"This guy doesn't seem like a principal at all! I thought he would be more stuffy."_

"Echizen Ryoma, yoroshiku." Ryoma muttered. _"This guy is too cheerful it's annoying." _

Ignoring his newest pupil's grouchiness, Principal Shimizu cheerfully went on to explain, "Well you must be wondering why I asked you to come. The reason is simple. Both of you have English abilities that surpass the rest of your peers by a large margin. In order for you to not waste more time learning the things you have already learned, after discussions with your senseis I have put both of you in class 3-A. Namely, you will study with third years for your English period. I hope that you find this arrangement suitable."

"That is very kind of you, Shimizu-sensei," Kevin responded. Then he very unsubtly stomped on Ryoma's foot.

"Arigatou sensei."

Amused by the sight, Principal Shimizu just grinned, "Don't worry about it! I assume both of you will be joining the tennis club? It is quite exciting for our school to welcome the children of Samurai Nanjirou!" He thought to himself, _"Well it seems like these two will liven the place up!" _

"Yes, we would very much like to join the club, we heard that it is the best in the country." Kevin was by this point resigned to take on the role of spokesman for both himself and his anti-social sibling.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck. Enjoy your classes and if you have any problems don't hesitate to contact me!"

* * *

Since it was the first day school, the homeroom period was the first period of clas, and everyone had to introduce himself or herself. By the time introductions were done, the girls were already fawning all over Ryoma and Kevin, who they had deemed to be "KAWAIIIIIII". There was one annoying girl in particular called Tanaka Aimi, who kept on cooing over how good looking Ryoma and Kevin are. Kevin, being the relatively more polite of the two, tried his best to distract her, while Ryoma was getting more and more annoyed for missing out on precious nap time due to the loud noise the girl was making. Then there was the guy whom the Echizens dubbed "Annoying No. 2", Itou Takeo, who was boasting about his, well everything, from academic skills to tennis skills.

"And I have been taking classes since I was a kid. Rikkai's tennis club is definitely the BEST! Hehehe I might even be able to play in the rankings tournaments soon! Do you think I would get to play the buchou? He's very, very good!"

"Betsuni."

"Awww come on Echizen, don't you want to be in the tennis club?" (Their class had come to a silent agreement. Since there were two Echizens, Kevin would go by his first name while Ryoma by his last. This quite illogical solution is probably due to the fact that Kevin looked more foreign and would not mind the more informal address.)

Just as Ryoma's scowl deepened to a worrying depth, the bell rung.

"Ah, come on Ryoma, we're supposed to have English with the third years now!" Kevin took the chance to drag his murderous looking brother away, leaving the other freshmen gaping at his remark.

* * *

Yukimura was feeling bored. True, his face didn't show his current state of boredom, as it would be quite unsightly for the "Child of God" to be bored, yet his friend Sanada and Yanagi, who were in the same class as him, knew from the slightly more vacant smile that Yukimura was giving to the fan girls that flocked around him that the buchou of Rikkaidai's renowned tennis team was very bored indeed. It could be because tennis season hadn't started, or it could simply be because the previous class of Japanese History was too boring, but either way a bored Yukimura is never a good thing, since he would use the time to think up of fresh ways to torture the tennis regulars, torture that would be disguised as "training". To Sanada and Yanagi's relief, the bell rung, and the teacher stepped inside the classroom.

"Good morning class! Today we have two first years who will be studying with us." Ignoring the uproar, the teacher continued, "This is because they have lived in the U.S all their lives prior to coming here, therefore their English abilities far surpasses their peers'. Now, come on in."

Yukimura perked up in interest when he recognized the two boys he met outside the principal's office, and he glanced at his best friend. He knew by Sanada's slight change in expression (yes, Sanada actually has different expressions despite common belief) that he noticed, too.

"Hi everyone! Echizen Kevin desu! It's awesome to be taking this class with senpai-tachi, I hope you'll take care of me! By the way, since both of our surnames are Echizen, you can call me Kevin so that it won't be confusing!" The blond haired, blue-eyed foreigner beamed.

"Echizen Ryoma, yorosiku." Said the slightly insolent boy next to him. Everyone sweatdropped at the short introduction, but Yukimura found it highly amusing. _"Maa, seems like we have an antisocial junior. I'm sure he'll get along fantastically well with Genichirou."_

"Erm, right! Are there any questions that anyone would like to ask Echizen-kun and Kevin-kun?"

"Hai! How come you guys are brothers? You look nothing alike, not to mention Kevin is so obviously a foreigner!" A girl wearing heavy makeup sitting in the front row asked. Ryoma glared. It was, as everyone heard it knew, a very tactless question.

Kevin quickly stepped in. "I was adopted by the Echizen family five years ago, senpai, this is why I look so different."

"Don't you think it's weird for you, to be in a family of Japanese people when you aren't?"

By this point, everyone in the classroom could feel the dark aura coming from the green-haired Echizen. Kevin too was getting annoyed.

"It's not blood or looks that makes a family senpai." He said in a voice that clearly indicated the conversation was over.

"Ah, right, I think it's time for class to start," the teacher quickly cut in before a real fight could break out. "Echizen-kun, why don't you go sit next to Yukimura-kun, and Kevin-kun, you can sit next to Yanagi-kun. Yukimura and Yangi, please raise your hands."

Smiling widely, Yukimura raised his hand and watched as the topaz-eyed boy reluctantly shuffled his way over to the vacant seat next to his left. His brother took the seat to Yanagi's right, and class resumed. As soon as the class started, Ryoma fell asleep, much to Yukimura and Kevin's amazement. The sensei of course was none to pleased at the youngest member of the class, and decided that he must teach his students a lesson in paying attention.

"Ryoma-kun, please come up here and translate this passage for me." The sensei called, waving a text that was at least university-level in difficulty.

"…" Ryoma continued snoring.

"Ryoma-kun!"

"…"

Trying to stifle his smirk, Kevin decided to take pity on the poor teacher. Getting up from his desk, he walked over to Ryoma's chair and kicked it hard, at the same time shouting, "I just bought some Ponta!" To the class's amusement, Ryoma immediately shot out of his chair. Grinning, Kevin quickly explained what had been happening. Yawning, Ryoma walked up to the blackboard, peered at the text, and calmly began translating. Five minutes later, to the teacher's utmost astonishment, the blackboard was covered with accurately translated text.

"Ne, sensei, is that okay?"

"Ah, yes that is good Echizen-kun, you can return to your sit."

"Your English is not to bad either, sensei, though we say 'seat' and not 'sit'."

Leaving the sensei to do an immaculately accurate imitation of a goldfish on stage, Ryoma walked back to his seat and promptly fell asleep again, while Yukimura looked at him in amusement.

* * *

When lunchtime rolled around, Kevin had finally managed to drag Ryoma out of his seat, and as the siblings were headed towards the cafeteria, a figure suddenly stepped in front of them, barring their path. Looking up, they saw that it was the pretty senpai from earlier. Yukimura smiled down at the two freshmen who were giving him curious looks.

"Why don't you guys have lunch with us?"

"Who's 'us'?" Kevin asked suspiciously, at the same time as Ryoma asked, "Who're you?"

"The tennis team regulars. I notice that both of you play tennis, judging from the tennis bags you were carrying when I bumped into you this morning."

"Ah, um, Yukimura-senpai, arigatou but that really wouldn't be necessary." Kevin said, poking his brother who was still looking at Yukimura with a blank expression.

"Really?" Yukimura smiled more widely, making Kevin and Ryoma shudder slightly. "That would be a slight shame. After all, this would be a good chance to meet the regulars of the team you're going to join."

Realizing that there really wasn't any escape, Kevin exchanged glances with his brother and finally sighed. "Okay, senpai, we'll eat with you."

Yukimura led the siblings to the rooftop garden where the tennis team regulars always gather for lunch. Here was somewhere they could rest with some peace and quiet, and other students, even brainless rabid fan girls, knew better to intrude on the tennis team's private lunchtime. As he opened the door to the rooftop garden, the usual, chaotic sight that was his tennis team greeted him. For all that the Rikkaidai Fuzoku tennis team was famous and intimidating on court, the team was actually just eight crazy teenagers thrown together. Here was what was going down at that exact moment: Niou was trying to spray paint Akaya's hair neon green, Marui was stealing food from everyone's bentos, Jackal was trying to keep peace, but was as usual failing, Akaya was whining about being picked on by Niou, Yagyuu was trying to read and tune out his crazy teammates by listening to music, Yanagi was noting down everything around him (though goodness knows how the childish behavior of his teammates was related to tennis strategies), while Sanada looked as though he was nursing the world's biggest migraine.

"Saa, it seems like everyone's here!" Yukimura smiled at his teammates angelically, and they immediately stopped what they were doing. They after all wanted to live to see the next sunrise.

"Eh, buchou, who are the people with you?" Akaya temporarily forgot about crying his woes to his beloved captain as he spotted the two first years trailing behind Yukimura.

"Oh, these are Echizen Ryoma and Echizen Kevin! They wanted to join us for lunch since they think that it's a good idea to know the regulars before they joined the team!" Yukimura smiled. His teammates, however, weren't exactly convinced. They all knew how good Yukimura is at forcing, er coercing, er persuading, people, and the slight reluctance from one freshman and the outright rebellious look on the other confirmed their feelings.

"But how do you know them, 'Mura?" Marui asked through a mouthful of food, an art he had long perfected.

"They're in the same class for English as me, Genichirou, and Renji."

"Nani!" Kirihara yelped.

"Yes, Akaya, it's true. You should do well to learn from them," the resident Data Master mused. At this Kirihara blushed, while Niou and Marui had to hold back sniggers. The second year ace's utter and incredible incompetence in the English language is quite a well known fact.

"Why don't you guys introduce yourselves? The Echizens only know Genichirou and Renji" Yukimura suggested, though when Yukimura suggests things, you had better do them or else.

"Marui Bunta, resident tensai!" Marui talked around mouthfuls of cake.

"Yagyuu Hiroshi, yoroshiku," said The Gentleman politely.

"Kuwahara Jackal, but just calling me Jackal-senpai would be fine." The half Brazilian smiled kindly.

"Niou Masaharu, puri~"

"Ah, um Echizen Kevin, yoroshiku!" Kevin beamed. Indicating to his sullen brother he said, "The is Echizen Ryoma, my brother."

"Ehhhhh! How could he be your brother? Both of you look so different."

If looks could kill, Kirihara Akaya would be a very dead teenager with the glares that Ryoma and Sanada were sending his way.

"I was adopted." Kevin shortly explained.

To divert the conversation topic onto safer ground, Jackal quickly made space for the two first years to sit and eat, and asked, "So, are you guys joining the tennis team?"

"Hai," Kevin nodded enthusiastically, while Ryoma just nodded. Of course, Jackal really didn't expect any other answer. Just from the fact that Yukimura took such an interest as to invite the two freshmen up for a meal with the regulars meant that they interest him, and very few things could capture Yukimura's attention outside his responsibilities as captain.

"It's such a shame that you guys will start off by picking balls!" Akaya exclaimed gleefully. Kevin chose to ignore his senpai and concentrate on his bento.

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma muttered, pulling down his cap low.

"What did you say?" Kirihara demanded.

"Akaya! Enough!" Sanada yelled, trying to keep peace, though he too was slightly displeased by Ryoma's attitude. _"Another brat with attitude problems that needs disciplining, not to mention he might not be as good as Akaya and is only bragging because of his parentage." _His mind wandered back to the conversation that he and Yukimura had with the principal this morning, and the real reason why Yukimura was so intensely interested in the two first years.

* * *

_Flashback_

"Ah, Yukimura-kun, Sanada-kun, please come in!" The ever-cheerful voice of the principal called.

"Is there anything that we could help you with, Shimizu-sensei?" Yukimura inquired politely.

"Yes, yes I actually have a piece of news that I thought would interest you. This year, there are two freshmen students enrolled at Rikkaidai who have, I believe, great potential to contribute to the tennis club."

At this, both teens' ears perked up. A chronic worry for the captain and the vice captain had always been the fact that most of the regulars save one would be graduating this year, and that there would be not enough suitable people to continue to support Rikkai's champion tennis team. Fresh blood, particularly talented fresh blood, is therefore always welcome.

"You see, being a tennis fan myself, I was quite surprised to come across a very familiar name when I was going through the details of the newly enrolled students. Echizen Nanjirou, otherwise known as Samurai Nanjirou, seems to have decided to send his two children to Rikkai as opposed to his alma mater Seigaku. Though I don't know the reasons why, if the two freshmen are as talented as their father, I am sure that they would make a welcome addition to your team."

Even ten years after the retirement of Samurai Nanjirou, the name of the most prominent tennis player from Japan was still well-known, and even Sanada was quite impressed. Indeed, if the two first years are as talented as their father, Rikkaidai's tennis team would safely remain invincible for many more years to come.

_End Flashback _

* * *

Ryoma silently ate his bento, while Kevin engaged their senpais in conversation. He knew that his anti-social and insolent tendencies already riled up some people, in particular the stern-looking fukubuchou, but to be honest he really could care less. Standing up he nodded to the teens, "Excuse me, I'm going down first." Hands in pocket, he walked away without a reply.

Kirihara, being the direct person he is, asked Kevin, "Ne, Kevin-kun, why are you so nice while your brother is such a…"

"A brat?" Kevin smiled tightly. "He is rather bratty isn't he?" Sighing he looked around at the regulars, and finally his gaze landed on Sanada.

"I know that Ryo's attitude is off-putting, but please believe me when I say that Ryo has his reasons."

"Reasons for being a brat?" Marui asked incredulously.

"Iie, reasons for being the person that he is today." So saying, Kevin walked away and let the older tennis players ponder what he had just said.


	2. Nine is Perfect

The first day of the academic year at Rikkaidai always ends with a free period, a free period that always causes great excitement, since it's a time when freshmen can sign up for whichever club they would like to participate in during the next three years of their middle school lives. While most of the clubs in Rikkai excel nationally, it had always been the tennis club, riding on many national championships, that has the longest queues and the most eager freshmen. Currently, the people in the queue snaking out of the tennis clubhouse doors were unfortunately subjected to Itou Takeo's loud boasts.

"And of course, after I started learning the classes, my coach said that I was very talented. No doubt I'd make it into the regular team here, and…"

Ryoma was looking annoyed, while even Kevin was trying not to look bored. The other freshmen in line while either glaring at Itou, or pointedly ignoring him and trying to avoid spittle flying from his mouth.

"I mean I came to Rikkaidai Fuzoku just for tennis, and when I managed to pass the entrance exam, my dad was so proud that he bought me a top-of-the-range racquet! Hey if I played the captain, I might even be able to win a game!"

"Really?" A sandy-haired freshman with chocolate brown eyes that had earlier introduced himself as Muranaka Mamoru asked incredulously. "Rikkaidai's captain is called 'Child of God', and he had never ever lost an official match before. Are you sure you are strong enough."

"I'm sure it's because all his opponents were too weak. If it's me it might be another different matter totally. Who knows I might be the new ace!" Itou gleefully exclaimed.

"Oi, oi! I wouldn't be so sure about that, first-year!"

The freshmen turned and came face to face with the red-haired tensai of Rikkaidai, who was already dressed in his regular jersey, blowing a bubble with his gum, and tapping his racquet casually on his shoulder.

"Ah, Marui-senpai! Cheers!" Kevin cheerfully called.

"Yo, Kevin! You and Echizen are signing up eh? Who's that loudmouth bragging over there?"

The said loudmouth currently had his jaw hanging open in shock of coming face-to-face with a regular of the team, and hadn't even regained his senses when all the other freshmen bowed respectfully to their senpai and greeted him accordingly.

"Erm, his name is Itou Takeo, and he's in our class." Kevin explained.

"Hmm…Itou Takeo huh? I'll be sure to watch out for you!" Winking, Marui walked away cheerfully whistling (and scaring every first year in the vicinity). Finally, without anymore drama, adventure, fights, or anything exciting at all, Ryoma's group finally reached the registration desk that was located inside the clubhouse. Registering the freshmen were Yagyuu and Yanagi, while Yukimura and Sanada stood to the side, alternating between discussing training schedules and looking at the freshmen.

"Echizen Ryoma, Echizen Kevin, Muranaka Mamoru, Itou Takeo. There, please check whether the information is correct. After you have finished, go get changed, and wait at the tennis courts because the first practice starts today." Yagyuu patiently explained to the freshmen.

"Hai, senpai!" Came the reply.

Just as they were leaving, Kevin motioned for his brother to go ahead without him.

"I have something to talk to Yukimura-buchou about." Kevin said.

Ryoma nodded, since he already had an idea what his brother wanted to ask the captain. The other two first years, however, looked on curiously. Never one to keep anything to himself, Itou asked, "Why do you need to talk to the captain. Oh, wait, is it to challenge him to a match? That's so unfair, I said I wanted to do it first."

Kevin sighed at the other boy's ignorance.

"No, Itou, I don't want to challenge Yukimura-buchou. You really should learn more about tennis, specifically the type of tennis that our captain plays. I don't have an early death wish, thank you very much." Turning on his heels, Kevin marched off, leaving a gaping boy in his wake.

Yukimura smiled as Kevin approached him.

"Kevin-kun, what can I do for you?"

"Um…it's like this. I am guessing that today's practice isn't just a practice, and that it's to gauge how strong the first years are, which means that you'll match up first years with regulars in matches."

Yukimura raised his eyebrow delicately, indicating that Kevin should go on speaking.

"I heard that there is an unspoken rule on the team that if a freshman could beat a regular he would immediately be given a spot on the regular team. The reason why Rikkaidai only has eight people when the rules allow for nine is because so far there hadn't been anyone strong enough."

"Where did you get the information from, Kevin-kun?"

"Well," Kevin grinned sheepishly. "I sort of erm eaves…I mean I overheard two second years talking about it as we were queuing just now. Anyways, what I mean to say is that I am sure that both Ryoma and me will be able to fit the criteria, but I would prefer not to be on the regulars this year, since I think Rikkai already has an invincible team with members that complement each other, so I would like to apply to be the team manager."

"You have quite a lot of confidence, Kevin-kun. What makes you think that you are qualified to be the team manager even if you do beat a regular?" Yukimura was highly interested by this point.

"Well, I used to draw up the training menu for my school team back in the United States, and it was very effective. Our team won the Elementary Level National Championships two years in a row."

"Hmm," Yukimura said. "Well, Yanagi always had been the one in charge of our training menu, though perhaps having someone to help him wouldn't be a bad idea. Win your match, Kevin-kun, and then we'll talk."

* * *

The eager freshmen were gathered on the tennis courts, having already warmed up and ready for their first practice. The regulars were careful to keep their expressions neutral, even though some of them were rather anticipating the practice, disturbingly kind of like how a pride of lions anticipates hunting down a herd of gazelles.

"Welcome to the tennis club, everyone," Yukimura smiled. "Now, I trust that everyone had already warmed up. Today, we're going to start off with something a little different. You will each be matched up with a regular and play a one-set match. This is to see where your skill levels are." Privately, Yukimura added, _"And to crush any sort of impertinence we might expect from people who are all talk and no skills." _Out loud, Yukimura continued, "Every freshman must participate, so even if you had never picked up a racquet before, we still encourage you to do your best. Sanada, Yanagi and I will be taking notes and watching."

There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the freshmen. At least they wouldn't have to play the Three Demons.

"Alright, let's start. Renji, can you announce the match ups?"

The Data Master stepped forward. "First round, Court A: Azuma vs. Jackal, Court B: Akiyama vs. Marui, Court C: Kido vs. Yagyuu, Court D: Tabata vs. Niou, Court E: Yano vs. Kirihara. The rest of you can watch the matches as you wait."

The matches progressed. Every match ended 6-0 in the regulars' favor, and all ended within 15 minutes. By the time the fourth round rolled around, none of the regulars had even broken sweat yet.

"Next round, Court A: Oki vs. Jackal, Court B: Itou vs. Marui, Court C: Murakana vs. Yagyuu, Court D: Shibata vs. Niou, Court E: Ishikawa vs. Kirihara."

"Yay it's my turn!" Itou proudly announced, jumping up and down. "I'm sure that I can do a lot better than you losers!" He made a sweeping gesture with his racquet at the panting freshmen that had just lost their matches. Kevin had to resist rolling his eyes while Ryoma looked on, bored.

"Good luck Murakana, Itou obviously doesn't need it, right?" Kevin said.

Murakana chuckled slightly, while Itou beamed at Kevin, oblivious to the subtle jab.

"Of course, I'm going to be the new ace of the team!"

Itou's confidence was soon completely shattered. As most of the freshmen and the regulars had correctly predicted, he was simply an impudent loudmouth who thought that he was better than everyone else. Marui seemed to take special pleasure in slowly tormenting and humiliating the freshman. Itou walked back with his head down and his tail between his legs (figuratively of course). To everyone's surprise, Murakana actually fared relatively well, and he was even able to draw out a rally with Yagyuu. The rounds continued again, and the results were still the same, until finally the last round was announced. Ryoma was paired up with Marui, while Kevin would be playing Yagyuu.

"Good luck," Murakana nodded at the brothers.

"Arigatou," Kevin replied, while Ryoma nodded back.

"Yeah, try not to get crushed too fast!" Itou butted in. Everyone ignored him. Ryoma opened his tennis bag, hesitated for a fraction of a second, and took out a dark blue and silver framed racquet. Then, he casually walked to the court and stood across the net from Marui.

"Ne, senpai, go easy on me!" Ryoma smirked, irking Marui.

"Rough or smooth?"

"Smooth"

"It's smooth."

"Service."

"End."

"Best of one set match, Echizen to serve!" The second year serving as umpire called half-heartedly, already quite bored by the rather one-sided matches that went on before this game. Privately, Ryoma smirked. _"Let me make your life more interesting, senpai." _Holding his racquet in his right hand he bounced the ball a couple of times, then glared up at Marui through his cap. Tossing the ball in the air, he brought down his racquet and gave the redheaded regular the biggest shock of the day.

"Oi, oi, did you see what that freshman did?"

"Marui-senpai didn't touch the ball at all!"

"Masaka, is that the Twist Serve?"

_"Well, this is interesting"_ Marui thought, grinning. Ryoma served again, however, Marui wasn't on the famed Rikkaidai regulars for nothing, and quickly caught up with the ball, which Ryoma managed once again to score with. In the end, Ryoma managed to keep his service game.

"Well, you are an interesting freshman, Echizen Ryoma!" Marui said, as he prepared to serve. "But, you're not at the level of the regulars yet!" Being a serve a volley specialist, Marui quickly ran up to the net, and for the rest of that game, Marui used his volley techniques to score.

"Game. 1-1, Marui!" The umpire called.

"Ehhhhh," Ryoma smirked. Then to everyone's shock (apart from those that were playing the matches) he switched his racquet to his left hand. "Mada mada dane, senpai!"

"Uso!"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding!"

"The squirt was playing Marui-senpai with his non-dominant hand."

_"Saa, Echizen Ryoma, you do like to cause chaos, don't you?" _Off to the side, Yukimura smirked.

The game ended quite close, with the score at 6-4 and the winner being Echizen Ryoma. Marui was forced to take off his wrist weights after the fourth game, and brought out Tightrope Walking in the sixth. Tightrope Walking stumped Ryoma for quite a bit, until he figured out a way to keep Marui away from the net, which was by no means an easy feat at all. This in itself was quite amazing, and everyone, including the regulars who had already finished their matches, was quite surprised. Yes, you read that sentence right, because there was one game that still wasn't finished, and that was the one between Kevin and Yagyuu. With the score currently tied at 6-6, the game entered tie-break and now had the utmost attention of every single person on the tennis courts. As he drank from his bottle, Ryoma looked up just as Yagyuu used his famed Laser Beam to score a return ace against Kevin's serve.

Kevin was at that very moment debating with himself. _"Should I use the 'it'? I wanted to save it for later. Can I win the game without it? After all, even if I lose this closely it'll still be a loss and I can't do that, not if I want the regulars and non-regulars to respect me." _Setting his resolve, Kevin prepared for another serve, though he made sure to use the Twist Serve, so that Yagyuu will not be able to return it directly with Laser Beam. Then, he countered with a drop shot, and as Yagyuu lobbed the ball into the air, Kevin took the opportunity to jump into the air and hit the ball with the frames of his racquet. Yagyuu readied himself to receive the ball, but to his surprise he saw five, six balls flying towards him, and when the ball hit the ground it didn't bounce, but instead spun round and round in a circle.

"Illusion." Kevin said, before taking position to receive Yagyuu's serve.

_"Eh, not bad. Seems like you mastered it, Kev." _Ryoma smirked.

Everyone else was just too stunned to move or comment. Yagyuu finally recovered enough to serve, but with Kevin sealing his Laser Beam and hitting consecutive Illusions, the game quickly turned in Kevin's favor, and it wasn't long before the umpire declared, "Game, set, and match, 7-6, Echizen!"

"Uso! Two first years actually beat the regulars!"

"This is unbelievable!"

Kevin ignored everyone as he drank from deeply. Yagyuu had been a difficult opponent, and the match spent his energy more quickly than he liked. Ryoma nodded to him as a sign of congratulations. However, there were always people who never knew when to shut up.

"Wow can't believe you guys won! So you guys must have some secret trainings huh? Did you guys hire a private coach or something? Oh, your coach must be a pro! The lives of rich kids, well it's something we can't compare. If not that you guys must've cheated and your wins are flukes." Itou blathered on, having wandered up next to Kevin, and even ended up tugging at Kevin's sleeve.

"Ne, so which one was it?"

Kevin looked disgusted. "It was no fluke, as all senpai-tachi here can attest to. And no, Ryoma and I never found the need to hire a personal coach who used to be a pro." To himself, _"Why would we need to, when our oyaji is a pro?"_

Itou was about to blubber on, but Niou chose this moment to step in. This is because the silver haired trickster saw a pair of feline like topaz eyes glaring daggers at the freshman, and not wanting to risk the greatest potential on the team this year being charged with homicide, he quickly dragged Itou away.

_"Not that I don't want to murder this idiotic brat and his so called 'years of training in tennis', but it would be a shame to be sent to jail over such a pathetic boy."_Niou mused to himself, as he dragged Itou in front of Sanada. Sanada glared at the first year.

"How dare you suggest the matches were flukes and fixed?"

"Erm…."

"50 laps around the court for disrespecting this entire team!"

"But…"

"75 laps! You're lucky you're not being outright kicked out!"

Itou took off, glaring in jealousy at Ryoma and Kevin, who by now were surrounded by other freshmen, congratulating the two on their wins.

"So," Yukimura said gently, at once commandeering the attention of the entire club, sans Itou who was of course still running his laps. "As everyone knows, there is a rule in the club. If a freshman could beat a regular, he would automatically take up the current empty ninth regular spot on the team. Since Echizen and Kevin-kun both won, we need to ask them to play against each other to determine who would become a regular. But, Kevin-kun had stated that he wishes to become the manager of the team. I trust that everyone has already seen his tennis abilities, and I for one trust him in his management abilities as well. So, Echizen will become the newest member of the regulars, while Kevin-kun will become the manager of the team."

"Masaka! Rikkaidai has a freshman regular!"

Though nobody contradicted Yukimura, most of the non-regulars were still slightly shocked that Ryoma made it onto the regulars, and that another first year would be managing the team. The two said freshmen, however, were unperturbed, and just accepted everything into stride.

"Practice is dismissed for today," Yukimura said, turning back to the clubhouse, and leaving Sanada to supervise the cleanup, as usual. Just before he entered the clubhouse though, he glanced back. Adoring first years surrounded Ryoma and Kevin. Kevin had an easy smile on his face as he thanked the other freshmen, while Ryoma merely looked unimpressed and bored, and pulled down his cap lower.

"What do you think, Seiichi?" Yanagi asked from beside Yukimura.

"Nine is such a perfect number Renji. Nine is invincible." Yukimura smiled.


	3. The Reason?

In the United States, inside a spacious hospital room, a girl was on the phone, while at the same time twirling the phone cord around her finger.

"So how was your tennis training, Ryoma?"

"…"

"Right, that does sound like fun. I'm so envious you must be making friends."

"…"

"Now, now, I'm sure your senpai-tachi don't appreciate being called idiots."

"…"

"Really? I must see that!"

"…"

"Soon, I hope."

"…"

"Yeah, it is pretty boring here. Thankfully I still have Ryoga-nii-san to annoy, otherwise I'd seriously drop from boredom first."

"…"

"I miss you too! Say 'hi' to Karupin for me!"

"…"

"Of course! Alright talk to you soon."

Sighing, the girl put down the phone, and as she looked up out of the window, a very, very tiny drop of tear could be seen making its way stealthily from her silver eyes.

_"Nii-chan, my twin, how I miss you." _

* * *

All the way across the world, the Rikkaidai tennis club members were hard at work. At first, everybody thought that Kevin would be a pushover compared with Yanagi, whose training menus were pretty harsh and often left players panting on courts, unable to move. They were wrong. Kevin was no pushover, oh no, in fact he made Yanagi seem like an angel in comparison. His training menus didn't just leave tennis players, regulars (who got almost twice as much training as the non-regulars) and non-regulars alike, panting on the courts unable to get up. His training menu almost killed the non-regulars and made the regulars half-wish they were dead when he first presented them. Since then, he had learned to cut down the training for the Rikkai boys, but just very slightly. Currently he was watching with a critical eye as the club members ran around the courts on what was their 56th lap. Well, only the regulars were running, the rest had by that time collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

"Is that squirt trying to kill us?" Marui complained as he ran. He had already chewed two pieces of gum and this was just warm-up!

"According to my data, there is a 17.5% chance that Kevin will let us rest after this." Yanagi said. Marui groaned. Out of the regulars, his stamina was the worst, and these laps around the tennis courts really were quite the torture for him. Things were made even difficult as the regulars currently all were wearing wrist and ankle weights.

"Mada mada dane, senpai." Ryoma smirked as he jogged past. He was quite used to Kevin's strenuous training menus back in America, so he was one of the few people, along with Jackal, Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi who didn't look like he was on the verge of death (or just severe mental breakdown).

"Alright! Last lap!" Kevin yelled from the sidelines. "The one who comes in last will have to do an extra 50 pushups!"

"What?!" Marui nearly screamed. However, he quickly refocused when he saw his teammate start running at a sprint, all determined not to be last.

"Wait up!" Marui yelled.

From Kevin's perspective, all he saw was a cloud of dust rushing in his direction. Then the regulars thundered around the corner. Of course, he secretly knew that the regulars, being regulars, would probably not be bothered by the pushups (well, that was what he thought), but that if he made it into a competition, all the regulars would not risk losing face in front of the rest of the club and would go all out rather than face the indignities of being publicly punished. As he predicted, everyone crossed the finish line at precisely the same time. Marui promptly collapsed from his lack of stamina, while Kirihara, Niou, Yagyuu were panting pretty hard. The rest simply looked only slightly ruffled.

"Well, nobody finished last…that's quite a shame." Kevin smirked.

_"He's the spawn of the devil." _Marui, Niou, and Kirihara thought. Yagyuu of course was too gentlemanly to have such vengeful thoughts against his blond kouhai.

"So, today the practice is very simple. We're going to play doubles!"

"Nani, doubles?" Marui yelped. "But we've already got two good doubles teams!" He pointed to himself and Jackal.

"Right, but by practicing doubles you could improve not only your partnership with your partner, but also improve your skills in observing the game that is going on, and analyzing strategies. Besides, I never said that this was going to be an ordinary doubles practice," Kevin smirked evilly. Everyone shuddered. By now they knew Kevin well enough to associate Kevin's smirk with something particularly unpleasant or just plain evil. Even Ryoma quailed slightly when he looked at his brother's expression.

"Regulars to Courts A and B, second and third year non-regulars to Courts C, D, and E. You can practice having matches. First years, be ready to pick up balls," Yukimura commanded.

"Okay so the thing we're going to do today is this." Kevin gleefully reached inside his bag and pulled out a long rope (yes, I sort of adapted this from the training Seigaku used in the anime). "I'm going to pair each of you up, and you will be tied to your partner by your ankles. Plus, hehe you guys are also going to put these on!" He held up a handful of eye patches. All the regulars groaned. They still had vivid memories of the nightmarish training last week.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"So, everyone!" Kevin bounced into the courts excitedly. "Let's do something fun today!"_

_All the regulars looked at Kevin warily, wondering just what the blond first year manager is up to. Kevin beamed and took out a handful of fabric. _

_"What are they?" Marui eyed the things in Kevin's hand suspiciously. _

_"They're eye patches!" Kevin exclaimed as though eye patches were the most normal things to bring to tennis practice. "Today, we're going to focus on improving your ability to adapt to a narrower range of vision."_

_"Ah, I see, so we have to play with the eye patches, and that presumably this is to help us overcome any sudden accidents or circumstances that might happen during matches?" Yanagi asked._

_"Yes," Kevin said. "But it also serves another purpose, which is that it will also help you get a feel for the ball and its position relative to you, rather than depending too much on your eyesight. So, shall we begin?" _

_For the next hour, utter chaos ruled. With the exception of Ryoma, Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi, the rest of the regulars did not fare well with their range of vision altered. Marui kept missing balls, while Kirihara kept getting hit on the head by the balls, which finally activated his Devil Mode, and he ran around screaming that he would crush all the balls, scaring the first years and several second and third years witless. Yagyuu tripped, Jackal stumbled, and even Niou received a ball straight to the face when he misjudged the path of the ball. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

"Soooooo," Kevin drawled, "Here are the pairings: Kirihara/Sanada, Jackal/Yanagi, Marui/Niou, and Yagyuu/Yukimura. Who's going first?"

"WAIT!" Kirihara yelled. He pointed at Ryoma, "Why doesn't he have to play."

"Well," Kevin said. "Nine isn't divisible by two."

"I could give up my place!" Marui exclaimed helpfully (and somewhat hopefully).

"Yadda, I won't play doubles." Ryoma muttered.

"But this is a practice exercise! Even buchou has to do it!" Niou complained.

Kevin sighed. He knew that this would happen. He had even tried to persuade his brother to play yesterday.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"Neh, Ryoma," Kevin popped his head in the door of Ryoma's bedroom. "You got a minute?"_

_"What do you want?" _

_"Well, I'm just going through tomorrow's training, and erm, doubles practice is scheduled tomorrow."_

_"So?"_

_"Can you play?"_

_"No."_

_"Ryoma…"_

_"I made a promise Kevin, or have you forgot?" Ryoma hissed, making Karupin leap off his lap in alarm. Kevin quickly held up his hands as a sign of peace._

_"No, I haven't of course I haven't. It's just that it'll be hard to explain tomorrow to senpai-tachi."_

_"I don't care."_

_"I might have to tell them the truth."_

_"Betsuni."_

_Kevin sighed again. "Okay, then. Oyasumi, Ryoma."_

_"Oyasumi."_

_As he turned to leave the room, Kevin caught sight of Ryoma staring at the framed picture that always sits on his bedside table. Without looking closely, he knew immediately what the picture contained. It was Ryoma's favorite picture, where a girl with wavy midnight blue hair and intense silver eyes was laughing happily at the camera, her arms slung around a blond boy wearing sunglasses and grinning and a boy with a smirk and molten gold eyes. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

"Kevin-kun, this is a team, and exercises are meant for everyone." Yukimura said. Although his voice was gentle, Kevin instinctively knew that the blue-haired captain was not pleased. He sent a look at his brother that very clearly said, "I told you so". Ryoma shrugged and nodded slightly at him.

"Yukimura-buchou, I could explain this to you later in private, and Sanada-fukubuchou, too. But please believe me when I say that Ryoma has very good reason not to participate." Kevin quietly requested. Yukimura gave the team manager a very long and hard look, before he finally nodded.

"Stay in the clubhouse after practice." Yukimura murmured.

"Hai, Buchou."

"Echizen, since your brother said that you have something urgent and personal that you need to do this afternoon, you are dismissed early from practice. However, I expect you to run extra laps tomorrow to make up for it."

"Usu." Echizen said, pulling down his cap and jogging off the courts. Kevin was very impressed with Yukimura's leadership skills. He knew that if Yukimura had mentioned no reason about Ryoma's refusal to participate in the doubles training, they would be flooded with even more questions and complaints. Yukimura's actions by making an excuse for Ryoma and then punishing him simply shut everyone up, and at the same time without telling everyone the reason why. Grinning widely, Kevin turned back to the regulars, rubbing his hands together.

"Let's start!"

Over the next hour, chaos reigned. The only pair that didn't manage to make fools out of themselves was the Yukimura and Yagyuu pair. This was because Yukimura was especially observant, and Yagyuu was extraordinarily calm, seeming to follow Yukimura's subtle hints well. Therefore, in spite of the limited mobility and vision, they only missed a few balls. However, the same couldn't be said for everyone else. Kirihara was running all over the place, tripping up Sanada or slamming straight into Sanada. Once, he even misjudged the distance of the ball, and swung his racquet so close to the stoic fukubuchou's head that he almost knocked Sanada out. Needless to say, by the end Sanada was furious. Having already yelled "Tarundoru" and "50 laps" multiple times, Sanada had to be restrained from dealing more physical punishment on the cowering seaweed hair boy. Marui and Niou were by far the most disastrous pair. With a bouncing Marui that wanted to rush to the net to play, the pair tripped multiple times, got into arguments, and almost took each other out with their wild racquet swings. Jackal and Yanagi didn't do anything stupid. That was because they didn't do anything at all. Yanagi had calculated that the best way to leave the practice intact would be to stand and not hit any balls. Of course, this resulted in a certain vice captain who is a stickler for the rules to get mad, and the half-Brazilian and Data Master were made to run 100 laps for unduly disrupting training.

_"As if training hadn't been disrupted already." _The pair thought grouchily as they ran their laps.

* * *

Kevin waited in the clubhouse patiently after practice, when all the other regulars had left, grumbling about their bruises and rope burns and uncooperative and evil partners. The blond sighed. Today was a long day, and it's about to get even longer.

"Saa, Kevin-kun, I think you owe us an explanation." Yukimura said, standing up after packing away his stuff. Sanada folded his arms and Yanagi simply looked at the younger boy through his closed eyes.

"Well, this might take a long time." Kevin muttered.

"We have all the time in the world. After all, this is a Friday evening."

"In that case, senpai-tachi, why don't you come over to my house?"

"To your house, Kevin-kun? What for?"

"Well," Kevin shifted uneasily. "I think it might be easier for you to understand if you come over."

The Three Demons looked at each other.

"Of course, if that's what you want." Yukimura smiled, subtly glaring at Sanada to stop him from scolding Kevin for making them wait for the explanation that was owed.

"Okay," Kevin said. "So, shall we go? Erm, my house is in Tokyo, by the way."

Yukimura raised his eyebrows. "Why is your home so far away?"

"Later, I promise. It's part of the explanations."

Kevin slung his bag over his shoulders and looked back at his senpai-tachi.

"Shall we go?"

* * *

The whole way to Tokyo Kevin was uncharacteristically quiet. Yukimura knew that telling the Demons the reason to Ryoma's adamant refusal to play doubles must be a difficult decision for Kevin. Being the kind person that he was, Yukimura would prefer not to see his kouhai go through so many struggles, but he could infer that Ryoma, and Kevin, to some extent had some issues, and that if he didn't know what was troubling the two promising first years, he wouldn't be able to help. Plus, he admitted to himself, he was rather curious about the anti-social Ryoma. Even the seemingly more open Kevin was quite guarded when it came to private matters, and he had never heard Kevin talk about his family. In an attempt to soothe the younger boy, he slid into the seat next to him.

"Kevin-kun, you know that I only want to help right?" Yukimura murmured quietly to Kevin, who was looking out of the window at the passing scenery.

"We, me and the rest of the regulars I mean, really do care about you and Echizen. I hope that you consider us your friends, because we really have nothing but the best intention towards you."

By now Kevin had fully turned to look at Yukimura, but he still hadn't said anything. Yukimura decided to take it as a sign of encouragement (not that he needed one anyways), and continued.

"So, you have nothing to fear from us."

The corners of Kevin's mouth turned up slightly.

"Thank you senpai. Thank you for being a friend." His eyes rested shifted to Sanada and Yanagi. "Friends." He amended.

The train rolled to a stop.

"Ah, we're here!" Kevin leapt up and the other three regulars followed. Kevin led the Three Demons through a couple of blocks, before stopping at a large, two-story house.

"Tadaima! Kaa-san I brought some friends." Kevin yelled. From the warmly lit hallway the teens could here a soft voice call back.

"Okaeri, Kevin! It's fine, invite them in!"

Kevin turned to his senpais, who were standing stiffly by the door.

"Well, what are you waiting for senpai-tachi? I thought you want to here the reason?"


	4. The Reason

Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi followed Kevin down the warmly lit hallway and into the living room. The first thing that they registered was the woman standing there, kind and gentle.

"Kaa-san, these are my senpai-tachi," Kevin introduced.

"Apologies for the intrusion, Echizen-san. I'm Yukimura Seiichi and I'm the captain of the tennis team at Rikkai." Yukimura bowed.

"Sanada Genichirou, fukubuchou."

"Yanagi Renji." Both teens also bowed.

"No need to be so formal, I'm Echizen Rinko," Rinko laughed, glad to be talking to the teens that her sons held so much respect for. "Thank you for looking after my sons, they both admire you greatly."

At the teens' slightly ill concealed look of shock, Rinko smiled.

"Even Ryoma, although he might not show it, holds you in much respect." Turning to her son she continued, "Your brother came back in a bad mood and told me what happened. He left, I think, for the street courts. I believe he knew that you were planning to bring your senpai-tachi back for explanations."

Kevin shifted in discomfort. "Is it okay, Kaa-san? After all, I don't feel like it's my story to tell."

"It's our story, Kevin, for you are as part of this family as Ryoma is." Rinko smiled warmly at her adopted son. "Besides, maybe this will help you and Ryoma especially. Now," Rinko turned to the teens, "I hope you like chocolate chip cookies!"

"Really there is no need to go to all the trouble, Echizen-san." Yukimura said.

"Nonsense! It's nice to see my sons finally being more open, and I have you to thank!" Rinko bustled off to the kitchen.

"Well, uhm, take a seat, senpai-tachi," Kevin said awkwardly. The other three teens sat down on the comfortable sofa. Kevin, however, went to the bookshelf at the corner of the room and took down a huge scrapbook. Putting the scrapbook on the table, he took a deep breath, and started to talk.

"Ryoma isn't always the person that you see now. Yes, he was still quiet, and cocky, but he was by no means outright unfriendly or antisocial. The reason for this is simple. Ryoma is one half of a whole, and he can't be complete without his other half, healthy and happy."

Without waiting for the other teens to comprehend his words, Kevin opened the book. The Three Demons immediately saw that it was a scrapbook of the Echizen family, for the words on the first page proclaimed, "Our Family, Our Story". Kevin flipped a page and they saw a picture of a newborn Ryoma, even as a baby glaring at the camera with the cockiness that they had come to know. Underneath the picture were the words, "Echizen Ryoma, b. 24th December, 1993". Before they could look closely at the picture, Kevin flipped the page, and the teens jerked back in surprise at the next picture. It was also a picture of a newborn, looking at the camera with curious glittering silver eyes that were feline shaped as a certain freshman's, and tufts of midnight blue hair sticking out from her head. The caption read, "Echizen Yosora, b. 24th December, 1993".

"Echizen…has a twin?" Yukimura asked falteringly. Yanagi resisted the urge to dive for the notebook in his bag. _"Now is not the time."_ He reminded himself.

"Yes," Kevin said simply.

"Why have we not heard about this? Why isn't she here?" Sanada asked.

Kevin sighed. "Let me tell the story, Sanada-senpai, and you'll understand."

Settling back into the couch, he started to talk again.

"Ryoma and Yosora are twins, and they share a really unique bond, as only twins could share, I guess, even though their personalities are as different as night and day. Ryoma was always the quiet one off the courts, while Yosora simply loved life and was always bubbly, curious and full of energy. On court, however, their personalities swapped. Yosora would be more calculating and cool, while Ryoma is a ball of energy. But for all their differences, they love each other, and they share the same love for tennis. For them, tennis isn't a hobby, it isn't even a passion, but it is life." He flipped through the scrapbook, and the tennis players caught sight of more photographs: Ryoma and Yosora, barely learning to walk, were swinging miniature tennis racquets, with a dark haired man grinning teasingly at them; Ryoma and Yosora, tossing tennis balls at each other; Ryoma and Yosora, beaming with pride at the camera, holding to their first trophy; Ryoma and Yosora running around a tennis court, obviously in the middle of a tennis game...What struck the Three Demons the most was Ryoma's expression, because in almost all the photos, Ryoma was smiling widely at the camera. A real smile, not like his usual arrogant smirk.

"You see, our father is an extremely talented tennis player, and Ryoma and Yosora both inherited his genes, they were tennis geniuses." He paused and then slightly smiled as he turned the page. On the page was a photo of a scowling Ryoma, and a laughing Yosora who clung to the hands of a smirking blond kid.

"This was from the day I was adopted into the Echizen household." Kevin gently smiled. "And I shared their love of tennis from that day onwards." The next few pictures consisted of Ryoma and Kevin arguing, Ryoma and Kevin beating each other up, Kevin giving Yosora piggy-back rides, and Ryoma and Yosora playing doubles against Kevin and the dark haired man who the teens assumed is the Echizen patriarch.

"Ryoma and I hated each other at first, but that soon faded away. However, Yosora was a sweet girl, and I loved her like a sister the moment I met her. We entered elementary school, and were able to make it onto the regulars." Kevin pointed to a photo of the trio, smiling at the camera. The next page showed something different, though, a teenager, dark haired and feline eyed.

"Ah," Kevin said. "This is Ryoga, our older brother. He is also adopted, though he has the good fortune to look like an Echizen. This is when Ryoma became captain, Yosora vice captain, and me the team manager in our third year of elementary school. This was our first national victory." The teens silently looked at the glossy photos of laughing children, almost every single one of them depicting one or two or three or all of the Echizen siblings playing tennis.

"Wait," Yanagi said, pointing to a picture showing the twins, both with wildly joyful faces and glowing gold eyes and playing tennis, disbelievingly. "Is that Synchronization?"

"Yes," Kevin smiled. "The first time Ryoma and Yosora achieved Synchronization. Haha you should seriously have seen the expression on Oyaji's face, he was so shocked. So, you see actually there was no need for Ryoma to practice today. He is already a very talented doubles player. Oh, and this is our second national win in our fifth year."

Finally Kevin stopped turning the pages, and sighed.

"We were on our way to our third national championship. Ryoma and Yosora were really devoted to the team, and we wanted to leave our elementary school with a good record, but something happened before the start of our sixth year in elementary school."

Slowly Kevin turned the page, and the three teens had to hold back their shock. The picture depicted Yosora with a bandage on her head propped up against a hospital bed, talking to Ryoma who seemed to have his arm in a sling.

"One day when Ryoma and 'Sora were out, a drunk driver lost control of his car. Apparently, the car was headed towards Ryoma, but 'Sora pushed him out of the way. Ryoma ended up with a fractured arm only, but 'Sora, her injuries were more serious. She had a mild concussion, but worst of all, her legs were crushed by the car." Kevin paused and took a deep breath. "She had multiple surgeries to save her legs, but the doctors said that it was unlikely she would ever walk again."

"She must have been devastated," Yukimura shuddered. He could not imagine the pain of living without tennis, and his heart reached out to the frail silver-eyed girl in the picture.

"If she was, she never showed it." Kevin said. "Ryoma, however, was a different story. He was wracked with grief and guilt, because he thought that he was the one who was supposed to be hit, and he couldn't stand the thought of his sister living without her sport. For months afterwards, he refused to pick up a tennis racquet. He said that it was too lonely without 'Sora, and that it was unfair for her."

"He plays tennis now though," Yanagi uncharacteristically pointed out the obvious.

"After a few months, 'Sora had a talk with him, and somehow convinced him to play tennis again, because she knows just how much tennis means to him. But, Ryoma promised that he would not play doubles with anyone else but her, and would wait for her return."

The teens were silent when they heard Kevin's story. Finally Sanada spoke.

"That is why Echizen refused to play today." Kevin silently nodded.

"It must've taken Echizen a great deal of courage to stand on the tennis courts alone," Yukimura sighed. "Thank you for explaining, Kevin-kun, but you have not yet told us why you live in Tokyo."

"Right, so right now Yosora is in her last stages of treatment in America and Ryoga's staying with her. Once her rehab starts she will move back to Japan. Since the best rehab center in the country is Tokyo, we live here."

"But don't you want to attend a school in Tokyo to be near your sister?"

"Yosora made us promise that we would attend Rikkaidai," Kevin sighed. "I don't know why, but I'm glad to have met you senpai-tachi."

Yukimura suddenly noticed the pictures hanging on the walls. One particular picture caught his eye. It was a photograph of Echizen Yosora playing tennis, silver headband holding back her hair and a light of fierce joy in her eyes. _"She really must love tennis." _He thought to himself sadly.

Sanada finally said, "We understand now. If there is anything you need, we will be happy to help."

"Your sister seems like an amazing person, Kevin-kun," Yukimura smiled. "I would like to meet her one day."

Kevin grinned back, a genuine smile this time. "She is an amazing person, Yukimura-buchou, I'm sure you'll get along fantastically with her."

Just then, Rinko walked back into the room, carrying a tray full of warm cookies and a cool pitcher of lemonade. Taking in the scene, she smiled secretly to herself. _"Maybe, just maybe these friends of my sons would be the ones to help Ryoma break out of his shell and stop him from wallowing in guilt and self-pity." _

* * *

That night, on the way home from Echizen's house, the Three Demons were all lost in their own thoughts.

"Seiichi, what are we going to do about Echizen now that we know?" Yanagi asked.

"What do you mean, Renji?"

"I mean, we know the secret, and Ryoma most likely knows that we know, so how are we going to treat this issue?"

Yukimura thought for a second and said, "Hmm, well I don't think Echizen's the type who is going to appreciate us mothering him or showing him pity. I think the best way to go forward is to pretend like nothing happened, but at the same time make sure that we're there if he needs us. As difficult as it is for me to admit, I think that Echizen still doesn't trust us enough to open us, so what we have to do is wait."

Sanada said nothing, but as he looked out into the darkness of the night, he couldn't get the picture of the smiling, silver-eyed girl who was named for the night sky out of his mind. _"Echizen Yosora, I would very much like to meet you one day." _


End file.
